SC judge recuses from hearing plea of ex-officer in plot scam

A Supreme Court judge Justice Ashok Bhushan today recused himself from hearing the bail plea of former chief secretary Neera Yadav, convicted in the Noida plot scam.
A bench of Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan took up the matter and directed that it be listed before another bench.
Counsel appearing for Yadav said her bail plea should be decided expeditiously as she has been in jail for past four months. He said this was the third time that a judge has recused himself.
Earlier, Supreme Court judges R K Agrawal and U U Lalit had recused themselves from hearing the matter.

Yadav had surrendered on March 14 before a CBI court in Ghaziabad after her appeal was dismissed and conviction upheld by the Allahabad high court. She had moved the apex court challenging the High Court order and also sought bail.
A CBI court in Ghaziabad had convicted Yadav and senior IAS officer Rajeev Kumar in 2012 in a Noida plot scam that took place between 1994 and 1995 and sentenced them to three years imprisonment. Yadav was the CEO of Noida Authority at the time of scam and Kumar was her deputy.
The 1971 batch IAS officer, Yadav, who became Uttar Pradesh's first woman chief secretary during the Samajwadi Party government in 2005, took voluntary retirement in 2008.

A CBI probe was ordered by the Supreme Court on a petition filed by one Noida Entrepreneurs Association in 1997.